Saturday, May 26, 2012

Considering that this was set up as a blog for Radioset fans, I guess I should post something related to my music... So here's miscellaneous info:

The 'Demos & Other Such Things' box-set released last month is almost all of the unreleased material from the past 10 years. But a few thing weren't included on it, because they were either too incomplete, or already represented on it in some way, or just sucked way too much. (There was also a different, guitar version of Quark that wasn't included, because I had forgotten about it until a few days ago.) So anyway, here's what didn't make the cut:
Sunday Drive (acoustic home demo of 'Pleasantries and Other Such Things' - 11/2004); Household Drugs (acoustic home demo - 11/2004); Milk Glass (acoustic home demo - 11/2004); the version of Manvoice included on 'Disc 3', but with weird lyrics; a later version of Milk Glass with the chorus line from Breathe Like An Alien; an early, noisy, solo version of Terrapin Drop from early 2005; a very bland and repetitive song from 2007; a short demo of Nocturnal Emissionary; the acoustic improve that ended up becoming Retro Space-Age Future Station (Christmas eve 2009); the ivy demo of Violent Afterbirth; instrumental practice demos of Faraway and Machine Automatic; 2 untitled songs from Fall 2009; and several hours of lo-fi Polymer Bloom rehearsals from 2004-2005. There's also a tape somewhere from towards the end of the Polymer Bloom era as 3-piece, that has recordings of Manvoice, New York Simon Underground, Briney, and Lilac Stray that may or may not exist anymore. The tape was borrowed and never returned so...

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Every now and then you see or hear about something that someone has said or done that will make most rational people raise an questioning eyebrow toward. And then that person always goes on to claim they have the "right" to have done what they did, because it's protected by the 1st amendment. While I agree that everyone has those freedoms, I believe that anyone who has to claim that their actions are protected by said freedom is merely using it as a shield to act irresponsibly. Free speech was instituted so you could speak negatively about the government without being hanged. It has nothing to do with being able to irresponsibly vomit arrogant beliefs, opinions, and personal interests in the public's face like so many people use it for now. First, the government doesn't give people rights, - they're privileges. And like all privileges, if it's abused then it can be further restricted or taken away altogether. People have less rights today than they did just 100 years ago. And by that, I'm not referring to voting rights, segregation, or those rights given/taken from just minorities or women. I'm referring to rules and regulations that are applied to everyone when certain members of society can't act responsibly and with respect towards others using their own free-will. True freedom isn't issued by a government, it's something an individual has unto themselves. And with true freedom comes responsibility, and should be used in such a way.